DeVos wrong choice for education; improve public schools

Letter to the Editor;

Tim Skubick has painted an interesting picture of Betsy DeVos, the newly nominated head of the Department of Education. He presents her as an effective battler against the status quo in public education. She is surely that. Her own children have never attended public schools. She, herself attended a private religiously themed high school. Indeed, she seems to feel strongly that federal money should go to fund private religious schools in spite of Supreme Court rulings against Bible reading or prayer in public schools.

The Department of Education is primarily concerned with public education. About 90 percent of our children are educated in public schools. Few parents can afford the $8,000 to $10,000 a year it cost to send a child to a private high school such as the one Ms. DeVos attended.

Perhaps we need someone to head the Department of Education who will work to improve public education. Playing the bull in the educational china shop makes for colorful copy for columnists like Tim Skubick; unfortunately it only leads to a lot of broken crockery. We should be able to do better for our public schools.